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Recently, I have chopped off my hair and by “chopped’ I mean I cut 3-4 inches off (dead ends). To some, that may not be much. However, I have ALWAYS had long hair. If my hair doesn’t hit the middle of my back, I feel naked! I only trust one person with cutting my hair, a family friend that I called my second mother growing up. If I went to a salon to get my hair cut, my palms would sweat and my heart would start racing. It’s safe to say that I have a fear of the chair at a salon. Not my thing. With my wedding quickly approaching…faster than I can keep up with…I want my long curly locks back! I thought I would share my tips on healthy, fast-growing hair.

Typically, your hair will grow ½ an inch every month. For me, my hair can grow up to 1 inch per month as long as I follow this routine. I swear by this…

Drink Water. Water is essential to hair strength and growth! Without it, your hair will become dry. Hydrated hair is happy hair. Your hair will not grow if it is brittle and breaking every time you brush it. Which brings me to my next point…

Comb wet hair, do not brush it. When your hair is wet, your hair is at its weakest point. Therefore, using a wide-tooth comb while hair is wet, will not be as damaging to your hair.

A balanced diet. Eating the necessary foods that is full of proteins, complex carbs, vitamins and minerals is key to growing strong, healthy hair. Your hair is made of proteins, therefore eating foods like salmon, walnuts, oysters, sweet potatoes, spinach, poultry, lentils, and Greek yogurt are building blocks for your hair!

Shampoo is one of the most damaging things to your hair. If you can go 3-4 days without washing your hair with shampoo, then your hair will thank you for it. Shampoo contains chemicals called sulfates, which are also found in your kitchen degreaser. It creates the foamy texture to shampoo. Not washing your hair for 2-3 days can be hard but there a several solutions for managing greasy hair throughout the week. (Don’t run your greasy hands through your hair every second, use dry shampoo, and stage your hair styles throughout the week.) Use can also find no or low sulfate shampoos at any beauty supply store like Ulta.

Use a Heat Protectant. I am guilty of using extreme heat on my hair. My blow dryer, my straighter, curling wand, etc. So if I am going to use these styling tools on my hair, I will put a heat protectant in before I start styling. My favorite product is “It’s a 10.” You can buy it at any local grocery store or pharmacy.

Lastly, take Biotin! Biotin is a vitamin that can be found at your local Whole Foods! It promotes thicker and faster-growing hair…

“When all the world appears to be in a tumult, and nature itself is feeling the assault of climate change, the seasons retain their essential rhythm. Yes, fall gives us a premonition of winter, but then, winter, will be forced to relent, once again, to the new beginnings of soft greens, longer light, and the sweet air of spring.” -unknown

Personally, I could not be more excited for the first blooms of the spring season. The shades of gray, bare trees, and dirty snow have left my mind and soul feeling uninspired. However, nature always has its habits of reminding us that there is greener grass to come, literally. Once winter surrenders to the “essential rhythm” of the climate changes, will you? Though we are collectively longing for the warmth of the sun to thaw our frozen bones, for the buds to awaken, and for the colors of spring to stimulate our minds, it is the beauty of the transition from winter to spring that I find most inspiring.

Alike the animals that are slowly awakening from their deep hibernating slumber, so should we. Slowly introduce yourself, as we do every season, to the miracles of the outdoors. Spending 15-30 minutes outside every day will have your body and mind feeling rejuvenated. Appreciate the differences of winter and spring air; how it tastes, how it feels in your lungs. Open your eyes to the miniscule variations in color in the trees, grass, and flowers. Listen to the chatter of animals that have been hiding from the cold, harsh weather and the birds that fly north overhead. Do not waste time waiting for spring to be here, rather witness the change for yourself.

Now that the “holidaze” season has ended for this year, it is time to change our eating habits! Just like the chipmunk that stores his food in his checks for the winter…Benefit from the fresh greens and produce that is sprouting all around you. When your body is aligned with the nature of the universe, your soul will thank you for it.

Witnessing the harmonious flow of life is one of perks of living here on earth. Take advantage of it! If we spend our days inside, waiting for the warmth of spring, we would have missed the most incredible part! The transition. The magic of living.

In 6 months, 30 days, 11 hours, 5 minutes, and 44 seconds I will become Mrs. Schwartzback! I can’t believe how quickly this year is going by. There is so much planning left to do. Entertainment…cake…decor…invitations…so much on my mind! Last weekend, my Dad and I got to talking about what was left to plan. He offered to take me out to all the local Home Goods in our area to find some cool vases for the centerpieces this week. That’s exactly what we did!

What my vision for my centerpieces is simple yet adds to the bohemian element of my wedding. My table cloths are gray, napkins are white, cutlery is silver, and the glassware is a standard clear glass. I wanted something funky; different shapes, sizes, and colors. One of my favorite things to do as a designer is mix metals. So I chose mercury glass in shades of silver, golds, and rose golds. My Dad, Matt and I went to every single Home Goods within a 20 mile radius and wipe their shelves of everything made of mercury glass! The metallic element against the gray table-cloth will create a funky, yet elegant centerpiece design. As a nature lover myself, I had to add a naturalistic element to my centerpieces. So I plan on either chopping down a tree myself or buying the center cuts of a tree trunk and placing the vases on top!

As for my flowers, I was to keep the palette clean and neutral. Whites, greens, and maybe some blush colored flowers to bring out the Rose Gold Jewels that me and my bridesmaids are wearing, made by Bare and Me. I really love the look of succulents, in the shades of that dusty blue-gray, white peonies, and LOTS of greenery! Let me know what you think of my centerpiece vision in the comments below! I can’t wait to fill you in on the rest of the wedding details as we come closer and closer to my big day! Check out the pictures below!!

As I said in my last post, I was very interested in having all my bridesmaids pick their own dresses in a shade of light gray to blue-gray. Each of my bridesmaids would be comfortable in the dress, it would fit their budget, and it adds a bohemian element to my big day! I was so excited to start the adventure of discovering each dress, especially with my Maid of Honor, Mary.

A little about Mary… She and I met in design school about 4 years ago. Though we have only known each other for a short amount of time, I feel like I have known this girl my entire life. We share a lot of the same interests, one of them being design. We both don’t take ourselves seriously, so every time we are together, we cry from laughing so hard. We have our own language. She is the only person I can spend hours upon hours on the sofa watching Mary Kate & Ashley movies, without being judged. She has been there for me through thick and thin. She has one of the kindest hearts and truly cares for the people she loves. I am so lucky to be a part of her life and her of mine.

The only requirements that I had given Mary for her dress was that it had to be a shade of light grey to blue-gray and it had to be floor length. Mary found a few dresses that she liked; a lot had a lace applique on the top with a chiffon skirt. We narrowed our choices to three, but there was clearly a first choice. The consultant told us that she was not sure if this dress could be produced in the color that we wanted. She said that she would call us on Monday to confirm whether or not we could. Crossing our fingers…Mary and I hoped that this dress could be made the way we wanted. On Monday, we found out that the lace applique could not come in the “graphite” color! The dress was perfect for Mary and I could tell that she loved it so much, so did I! So I asked them if we could have the lace applique in ivory and the rest of the dress in the “graphite” chiffon. The bridal consultant called the designer and said it wouldn’t be a problem! YAY!

Tip: If you are planning a wedding and you want your bridesmaids to pick different styles and colors of dresses, then make sure you ask the vendor to send you a fabric swatch of the materials. This way, you can see what colors blend well with the shades that you’ve already picked. We have 4 more dresses to go…Here is a few pictures from our trip!

Here is the link to the beautiful Jasmine Dress that Mary chose to wear on me and Matt’s wedding day! Great start, Maryfish. Love you…

Boys- are you thinking about buying your girlfriend, fiancé, or wife some roses and chocolates for Valentine’s Day? Don’t. Roses are over played and just seem like you are falling into the category of people that crack under pressure by this commercial holiday. Instead, get creative in your present to your woman! Here are my favorite options…

Flowers. If you are going to go the flower route take advantage of the “farm-to-table” concept. I don’t mean go to a farm and pick your own flowers. I mean when purchasing flowers, take into consideration where the come from and the ones that are in season, because they will look the best. If you wanted the most beautiful roses that weren’t shipped from across the country, then Valentine’s Day should be rescheduled from February 14th to mid-spring through fall. Also, take into consideration the fragrance of the flowers. After all, this is a sensual holiday.

Candy, Chocolates, and Food. Just like smell, taste is another strong sense that you want to trigger on Valentine’s Day. Instead of buying a heart shaped boxes from Whitman’s, try making something that will impress your significant other. If you really want to impress your significant other, come up with a menu that is comprised of foods that are known for their aphrodisiac qualities! Foods like honey, chocolate, and oysters are associated with sparking reactions of energy, love and passion.

Jewelry. Staying in theme with the “farm-to-table” (farm fresh flowers) and DIY (making a romantic dinner yourself, instead of going out to dinner) purchasing jewels that are handmade are perfect for this kind of holiday. I can’t tell you how much time, heart and soul my mother, Laurie (owner of Bare & Me) puts into each piece that she handcrafts. From her Keepsake Pendants to her Heart and Arrow necklace, your significant other would be lucky to have one of these in her jewelry armoire! (Also, girls! Don’t forget about you mothers, sisters, and friends this year!) They deserve one too! Click the link “SHOP” at the top to view my mom’s collections. You won’t regret it! 😉

I have a challenge for you. Don’t let people tell you that Valentine’s Day is the only day to treat you significant other, mothers, dads, sisters, brothers, and friends to something special. Telling someone constantly that you love them and appreciate them is what makes the feel special. Surprising them with small gifts here and there will have a bigger impact than a diamond on Valentine’s Day. Spread the love! Remind each person in your life that you hold close to your heart, and tell them that you love them…everyday up until Valentine’s Day…through your actions and through your words. Then, once you see how easy that was, continue to do so throughout the entirety of the year! We love you guys!

I am currently a Designer for an Interior Design firm in DC and have been working here for about a year. Lately, I have been feeling like my desk has become an unorganized mess; quotes and drawings, fabric samples, paint chips, post-it notes, and our client folders everywhere. This morning, I ran to Home Depot to return a switch plate that our client didn’t need and as I was walking to the customer service desk, I saw a stand of succulents. My favorite kind of plants! Before checking out, I convinced myself to buy a mini succulent pot for my desk at work! I have been thinking that I need to personalize my desk for a while now, but I haven’t really motivated myself to do so. There are many days where I am out running errands to running to appointments with clients to my boss, but there are those days where I spend most of my time doing office work and spend all day sitting at my uninviting, unattractive desk. Spending your day at a desk all day, is not the best thing for your psyche…Here are some tips that I will be implementing and I hope you do to!

Organize. This is the most practical step to personalizing your desk. Purchasing containers to hold your pens, folders, office supplies, etc., will not only organize your desk but decorate your desk to your style! Here are some cute ideas for containers for your desk at work…

Add color. Color is going to be the most obvious change to your workspace and will brighten up any day at work. You can add color to the containers or office supplies that you’ve purchased. If you work in a cubicle, then add some colored wallpaper to the walls of the cubicle like in the picture below!

Buy a plant. If you purchase a plant, like a succulent, make sure you get one that doesn’t need a lot of attention. Don’t forget that plants need a light source to stay alive and grow. If your desk is by a window or close to another light source, purchasing a plant is ideal. However, if your not near a sufficient light source, then buying flowers that you leave in water and replace weekly is another option.

Frames and Art. I don’t know about you, but a picture of my puppy, kitty, family, friends, or fiancé on my desk would brighten up any day of mine at work! Maybe you have a child and they drew something for you. Since your refrigerator door is already full of family portraits or something that seems inspired by a little Picasso, save one of those pieces of art for your office!

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Thinking about walking down the aisle to marry my best friend, is quite nerve racking. I’m sure there are a lot of girls out there that feel the same way. Every time I think about each step I will make towards Matt, my eyes start to tear up. When the song that Matt and I chose to walk down the aisle to plays on my Pandora Station at work, my eyes start to tear up. When I think about my Daddy walking me down the aisle arm and arm, my eyes start to tear up. But the one thing that I am excited about is having my best girlfriends stand by me while I make the biggest decision of my life, my bridesmaids.

My bridesmaids Mary, Samantha, Adrienne, Delaney, and Kristin will stand by my side on September 13th this year and I could not feel more blessed to have them a part of my wedding. Something that we are all excited about are the bridesmaid dresses! After choosing my dress, it’s now time for us to shop for them… Bridesmaid dresses should never upstage a bride, but enhance the brides dress and the theme of the wedding. There are different paths you can take when choosing the dresses.

Figure out everyone’s budget for the dress. Nowadays, you can either BUY or RENT a dress. One of my favorite websites for Buying or Renting a dress is littleborroweddress.com! They offer a bunch of styles of dresses in different colors. Because the shop is online, they will send you fabric swatches to make sure that you are satisfied with the color. Perfect! Once you buy or rent the dress, they send you two sizes in case the other does not quite fit! Little Borrowed Dress takes the guess factor out of purchasing a dress online.

Same dress, same color. This is the traditional bridesmaid dress scenario. The style and the color of the dresses are the same. Usually, the bride will chose the dress and whether you love or hate the dress does not matter! You would wear anything to make your bride happy!

(This obviously isn’t a picture of bridesmaids but flower girls! My sister (Samantha) and I are leading the flower girl line! Thought it was too cute not to put in this post! Still shows the same dress, same color concept!)

Same dress, different color. This is another bridesmaid dress scenario that is a bit of a twist of the traditional same dress, same color. This could either be a hit or a miss. If you are not careful with the colors you chose, there will not be any sense of consistency in your wedding photos. However, if you can pull this off, your wedding photos will be creative and fun! One of my favorite themes for same style with different colors is pastels.

This is a photo from my friend Adrienne’s wedding with her two bridesmaids my sister and I! Different dress, same color! Adorable…

Different dress, different color. This could also be a hit or miss. I was a bridesmaid in my friend Kristin’s wedding and she could not have pulled it off more beautifully! Her colors were a champagne/blush theme. The different shades and styles of dresses created a bohemian/eclectic look. Each bridesmaid felt comfortable in her dress, considering we all got to pick our dresses!

This photo, shot by Kati Rosado, is a PERFECT example of how to accomplish the different dress, different color deal! Well done, Kristin! ❤

I love each of these options for Bridesmaid Dress shopping! My favorite is probably the different styles of dresses with different shades of the color of your wedding…I might steal that from you Kristin ;).

-They let me vent, but they tell me when I am obsessing over something and “seriously need to chill”. By doing so, they let me work things through in a much healthier way, and I end up much better off. They always help me to see that the glass is always half full, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

To drink a little too much with (of course, if you’re 21) and dance on the tables in public..yes in public.

– My friends are always the first on the dance floor, and the last to leave. We do not care what anybody thinks, and of course we love to make a fool of ourselves.

To try on an insane amount of outfits with before you pick the absolutely perfect one for a night out on the town!

-I have this problem where I NEED to try on every piece of clothing in my closet, but each of my friends will be there, saying yes, no or maybe, to each and every one, until I feel ready for a night out.

4. Talk about boys with/ cry over boys/ scream over boys

-Every single one of us has been through a terrible heartbreak, but no matter what, we have always been there to pick up the pieces. We love each other that much.

-Even though I snore a lot and I hog the blankets, they still let me cuddle when I am feeling lonely and just want some company. Thats love right there.

Facebook and Instagram “stalk” crushes

-We know every one of our passwords and we all go on the same page and stalk the same people. I am not sure if it is a good idea that I am putting this on here for all of you to see, but don’t deny it, we all do it. We go full blown hacker when we want to find something out.

To be honest no matter what

-Even though the truth may hurt, we all tell each and every one of each other the truth, and we aren’t scared to hear it. We know that at the end of the day, thats all that really matters, and we care enough about one another to coach each other through the struggles that we call “everyday life”

“Okay don’t judge me but…” They never will

– We know everything about each other, and we have never once judged each other for it. We never hesitate to speak out and let the others know what happened, because we know that each and every one of us will take it to our graves.

“SOS” There before you finish the text

-Whether it is something totally serious like getting out of an awkward or scary encounter, or something silly like picking out a “first date outfit”, my best friends will always jump to help, and be by my side before I know it.

Talk in accents with

-Seriously, all we do is talk in an accent. British, southern, you name it. We know it. Sometimes in public we like to see how far we can go until someone notices that we are very American, and have zero accent.

This past year has definitely been a roller coaster of events for myself along with my loved ones. We have experienced great loss, and in the most unexpected and worst possible way. But there are so many things that I learned throughout the whole process.

1. Stop Blaming Everyone Around You

Sometimes, things are meant to happen. As awful as that sounds and as much as I hate to admit it, everything happens for a reason. Bad things happen to good people, and although I cant possibly wrap my head around the concept, I have to believe that there are better places out there. Having said that, this past year I learned that I cant blame the bad events that happen on the people who are closest to me. I find that I am always trying to find the shortcut out of things instead of dealing with it head on. Nobody can ever tell the future. So I need to be there for them, like they have always been there for me.

2. Love Myself

Yeah, I have made my fair share of mistakes. But this past year has helped me to realize that I need to forgive myself, and move on. I may not have to forget about what happened, but I should always stay true to myself and love myself for all that I am. Now that I can truly love myself, I can fully let others into my life, the way it should be. It seems like such a simple concept, if you think about it. But really think about it. How many of you are harder on yourselves than any of the others around you? How many times have you made a mistake and not been able to shake it off? I know I have. This sounds like a big fat cliche’, but in order to love someone else, you need to love yourself first.

3. Change is Good

This is definitely one of the hardest things I have had to find the truth in. I know that, without a doubt, nobody should make you change who you are, and you should never try to change someone else, but we are all a work in progress. By allowing yourself to make mistakes and to grow from them, you will be able to be the best version of yourself. Not anybody else, but yourself. You are going to have bad days, and you are going to have great days, and there will always be people there to go through it with you.

With this weather really putting a damper on my state of mind lately, all I have been thinking about is the summer and what I want to be doing. Obviously, with graduation around the corner, I am thinking about taking two-three weeks off to do some traveling. I certainly do not have the money to be doing anything crazy, like oversea’s traveling, but I never realized how many beautiful places are in the United States that go unnoticed. So, chances are, this is where I’ll be!

This beautiful sight to see is called Antelope Canyon and it is located near Page, Arizona. It is known as the “Instagrammers Dream” because of its unique and natural colors. In the middle, where the two sides come together, there is a beam of light that comes up from above. It is known as “The Crack” or the “Corkscrew”!

I may or may not want to be proposed to in this tulip field which was sent from heaven. Who wouldn’t want to be? This looks like it was made out of a dream that nobody wants to wake up from. It is known as the Skagit Valley Tulip Fields which is located in Washington State. I cannot believe I have never heard of this wonderful place until now, but I am glad I did.

My grandmother was born and raised in Arkansas, a place that I have always been interested in traveling to. But now that I have seen this beautiful amazing wonderful spot, I am without a doubt heading there, and hopefully soon. Although I am fairly scared of heights, I cannot pass up a place as adventurous and beautiful like Whitaker Point, Arkansas. This place would be awesome to go with a bunch of friends who are looking for some adventure. It is called Hamilton Pool, and is located in Texas. It is especially popular in the summer when people are looking to take a quick dip in one of nature’s amazing creations. Story goes that thousands of years ago this pool was created when the dome of an underground river collapsed due to massive erosion. And just somehow, this masterpiece took its place. This is called Lake Tahoe, which borders Nevada and California and is known as the largest freshwater lake in North America! What better place to spend some time with the family and relax for a while.

One of my favorites, and the last on my list, is called Thor’s Well, which is located in Oregon. The best time to see this powerful sight is an hour before high tide to and hour after low tide. Although the sight does draw you in without a doubt, it is exceptionally dangerous and sight seers are asked to proceed with caution. Knowing me, myself, and I, chances are I would get too close and fall right in, but at least the last thing I would see is this amazing place.